Yes, chickens do have romances. This is in addition to cats, birds, and puppies, whose romances you are already aware of... So, long ago, 2 chickens fell in love, and that love was immortalized the way most things were in the 50's... with awkwardly rhymed phrases on tea towels! The chickens didn't seem to be an ideal pair at first - he being of an "old batch" and she being a trifle proud looking (albeit cute) catch...
The romance was turbulent at first, and one might say that there was "plenty scratch"... but within time it was clear they were a "perfect match." (By the way, if you're not inwardly groaning yet, you should really get that checked out... your inner groan mechanism may be faulty or nonexistent) :)
The two chickens settled down in a "cozy thatch" and before 3 shakes of a lamb's tail had 4 lively chicks and had settled down into smug married-hood. (They are SO smug marrieds - just look at them!) :) Extra points to anyone who can explain to me the meaning of "natch"...
15 comments:
Best I can find is this..
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19990607
Meaning short for "naturally"
Those are very cute transfers, already got some ideas for those haha
Yay! Thank you so much for filling me in! It's not every day I stumble on a phrase I've never heard of.. :)
Natch = Of Course!
I love these! For some reason, I am really into the chicken/rooster motifs lately.
Natch is short for "naturally", as you are already aware, and I believe "Old Batch" is in reference to the fact that the rooster is a confirmed bachelor until the lovely lady hen catches his eye. Thanks for sharing these. My MIL's kitchen is done in vintage roosters. Now I think I know what I'll make her for Christmas.
Thanks so much louanne, laura, and sweetheartville! I agree, the world needs more chickens, particularly embroidered chickens!!!
I have a flour sack cloth my Grandmother had made with the "Well Natch!" transfer. It never made any sense to me until I saw the whole set just now. Thanks for sharing these!
That is SO wonderful!!! If you ever have a spare moment, I'd love you to email me the picture! I'm sure everyone would love to see it, too! :)
I recently picked up this set of transfers at an antique shop in Sisters, Oregon. If it is in its original envelope it came from Capper's Weekly Needlework Service of Topeka, Kansas. They were mailed to a one Mrs. Henrietta Birmelo of Albert Lea, Minnesota. There isn't a date on the postage meter, but the postage cost 1.5 cents, so that might be able to date it somehow. Dunno if this is its original envelope though. It did come with directions and the number on the directions is 5379, but they don't have any other identifying marks.
I love love love this set. I am trying to come up with a quilt concept to tell the whole story of these romantic cluckers!!!
Thank you SOOO much for these details! My transfers are cut and didn't have any directions or identifying marks. It seems there were a gazillion mail-order transfer companies back in the day - it would be fascinating to see a list of all of them! :)
Hey, Check out these two variations on the Chicken Romance theme i just found in a lot of transfers I got on ebay. Not sure how to post the photos here in the comments, but i have them posted on my blog at
http://smartypants-luckylisp.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!
precious! squeal worthy!
I just saw this set (chicken romance) on the Aunt Martha's website - still available for sale.
@tenthingsfarm - If you take a closer look, you'll see the Aunt Martha's patterns are different.
My husband's grandmother has the first four of this set, embroidered beautifully by a family friend. I was actually searching to see if anyone was selling the transfers online, when I stumbled upon this! I wish I'd taken pictures of what she'd embroidered ....
I will be checking with the family friend to see if she still has the transfers, as I too adore them (even if the wording is a bit awful).
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